“It Takes Faith to Challenge Religious Bigotry”

Faith In America Founder and Board Chair Mitchell Gold authored a guest post in The Advocate about religious-based bigotry in North Carolina.

“Some fundamentalist Christians just can’t accept the idea that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are good and decent folks.

They call our community “sinners,” which causes serious spiritual and emotional harm, particularly to LGBT youth, who hear this and start feeling like they are broken. Some conservative faith leaders, like Pastor Kevin Swanson, have even been so reckless as to suggest that LGBT people are “worthy of death.” This violent rhetoric is disgusting and has no place in or outside of our faith communities. The LGBT community is entitled to full legal and spiritual rights, which is something my nonprofit, Faith in America, works to advance.”